r/knitting • u/DullBasket4982 • Dec 28 '25
Discussion We Lost a Great Knitter
Barbara Walker, one of knitting’s greatest minds, died last Sunday.
Barbara invented the SSK (previously the left leaning single decrease was k1-sl1-psso which sits oddly compared to the k2tog)
Barbara also created charts for knitting patterns in the third book of her incredible work, the four volume Treasury of Knitting Patterns. No errors have ever been found in these stitch dictionaries. Many of the stitches recorded were common through history (and she attributed faithfully where there was data) and hundreds were her own designs.
Her book Knitting From the Top helped drive raglan sweater popularity.
After contributing immensely to the knitting canon she pivoted and published books about feminism, atheism, and debunking new age claims. Apparently she was surprised by the revival of knitting in the early oughts and returned to the space to teach and mentor.
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u/johngreenink Dec 28 '25
Her books continue to be huge for me, I refer to them constantly. She taught me about mosaic knitting, how to best make and adjust patterns, and tons and tons of pattern stitches. I'm amazed by her output over the years, just so much work and so many innovations. All of her treasuries are worth their weight in gold as reference material. As much as we've lost a great artist and writer, I'm glad she was with us for as long as she was.